To discount or not to discount, that is the question!
Should you be offering deals and discounts to attract more visitors to your destination?
Competition is strong in tourism and this can often lead destinations, venues and attractions in to a pricing war. Offering the biggest offers and discounts to look more appealing to their visitors. However, to put it bluntly, if you live by price you will die by price, especially for smaller destinations.
There are lots of tourism businesses out there that are cheaper than you and who have a strong discounting pricing strategy to get customers to buy tickets, but they will probably be making a very small profit margin.
Some of the biggest cost leaders out there engineer costs out of their business model so they can sell cheaper and still make a profit, Low-Cost Airlines for example. However these companies have the capacity to engineer costs down due to the high volume they are selling. When a small business offers discounts without the benefit of having reduced their costs they simply cut margin.
The other major risk with discounting is that you will only attract ‘cheap visitors’ who are buying with you because you are cheap and therefore they have no loyalty. You want to attract loyal visitors who are buying from you because they like visiting you.
Why you want loyal visitors
Loyal visitors bring repeat custom which brings your destination its profit. On average it’s 6 times cheaper to get an existing visitor to buy from you than a new one. These loyal visitors are also your raving fans! They’ll be telling their friends and family why they should visit too, and a recommendation is a powerful selling tool! People are more likely to buy and not be concerned with a discount if they have proof from a trusted source it’s worth their money.
Target Your Audience and Add Value
When you have a clear target audience (you can have more than one), you can tailor your marketing to speak directly to their wants and needs. If they know you have something to offer them, you shouldn’t need to discount to persuade them to come.
To avoid selling on price (primarily*) you need to be adding value. By this we mean clearly telling them all the wonderful things they get for their money, creating an experience that’s more than they expect.
Show value without having to discount by:
Giving impeccable customer service
Telling them what’s included in their ticket price
Giving them more than they expect
Add extra value (e.g. extra time, access to certain areas)
Give ‘Great Customer Service’
Put your self in their shoes. Don’t just talk about “we give exceptional customer service”. Everyone says that. What would “exceptional customer service” mean to your visitors?
This should radiate across everything you do. Respond quickly and efficiently to emails, comments, and social media messages. Always be friendly, welcoming, and helpful.
Make the buying experience as easy and pain free as possible. If there is a problem, go above and beyond to solve it.
Don’t let the end of their visit be the end of your service. Follow up afterwards, ask them what their experience was like, ask them to review, invite them to book again.
If you treat your visitors exceptionally well, they will come back, they will tell their friends, and they won’t need a discount to incentivise them!
Want to talk more about how you can show value in your marketing messaging? Get in touch.
